Saviour
by Guardian Angel Yukito
Summary: [AU][HughesxRoy] They're subjects in a secret lab a homunculus and a chimera. No one expects misfits like that to make it in the world.
1. Chapter 1

**Saviour**

Chapter One

He was always watching. Even in the dim light given by the low burning gas lamp which gave off only a tiny amount of light, he could still see well enough. New people were rare, and always piped up his interest when they were put into this room. Even if he had never left his cage in this room, he knew well enough that there were other places beyond this one.

His head lfited, purple eyes narrowing as two large men came in, heaving something between them. His head, resting on top of his arms which were wrapped, like always, around his knees, turned slowly to the left. His cage was connected to another, seperated by a line of bars. the men dumped the 'something' in his connected cage, quickly leaving and slamming the thick door shut.

"Hey ... wake up." he murmured, voice raspy from not having been used. He was amazed that he even _had_ a voice. For a moment, he studied him, strething out his legs as best he could and sighing. The 'thing' grunted softly, something caught between a whimper and a snarl, and opened dark eyes that reflected back the dim light. "Where am I?" he asked slowly, sitting up to lean against the seperating bars, peering curiously through at his sort-of cell mate.

"Somewhere awful." The 'thing' frowned at the answer he got, scratching his dusty cheek with a dark paw. He stared at him for a moment, before asking, "What's your name?" The other shrugged, reaching out for the sigh that dangled off of a peice of string on his cage. "Maes. Apparently." He stated slowly with yet another shrug. One couldn't be sure here. Maes had no idea who he was, who he had been, just only knew _what_ he was.

The thing grunt-snorted softly, and Maes offered him a small smirk. "And you?" The other person pondered for a moment with an expression that looked as if it made him sad to think of his identity. Maes wondered if he even knew who he had been, or was, seeing as this one hadn't died in the attempt. "Roy." He said after a while, scratching his chin thoughtfully. Maes went back to studying him, trailing a hand through his dirty dark hair with a sigh. Chimers were currently the flavour of the month, it seemed. From the murmurings that Maes had heard, there had been quite a few created recently. They were all different, all failed attempts at some goal. Except this one. Maes knew that because he had ended up in this room.

Roy was staring at him, as if he was in some sort of pain, both sad and wistful as well. Maes wouldn't be surprised if he was in pain - his body was in a state of disarry with its new parts. He noted how his eyes mirrored back the light, giving him an eerie look. "You're not gonna get any food for a while." He said suddenly, almost musingly. He watched Roy's expression turn from pained to crest-fallen, emotions flickering over his pale face.

Maes offered him a small smile, shifting closer to the bars. There was a small bowl set into the metal floor of the cage, which was half-filled with some kind of porridge-y sludge, that would be refilled every nine days. He didn't really need to eat that much, so he wasn't complaining. "C'mere." He said slowly, scooping a handful of it up. Roy stared at him warily, but edged closer nonetheless. Maes poked a hand through the bars, crooking a finger at Roy. He had expected him to take it from his hand, scooping it into his own, but instead he ate it straight from Maes' palm like some wild animal, briefly nipping at his finger. Maes could hear a soft rumbling sound coming from him as well - purring, despite the awful situation.

Instinctively, Maes reached up, gently scratching at his black ears. "Not a bad kitten." He mused with a soft snort, pulling away to wrap both arms around his own knees. Roy was staring at him again, one ear twitching slightly. He licked his lips, pressing himself against the bars, leaning through as best he could to rest his head against Maes' shoulder. The homunculus glanced at Roy, purple eyes narrowing slightly in confusion.

Then he smiled again - the second true smile in his entire life, no doubt. He reached out, giving Roy's head a gentle pat. "Good kitten, huh?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Running. Thud thud thud. Gasping. Clawed branches. Scratching, tears, biting, gnawing into his cheeks. Ghostly fingers that grasped and ripped off his ears. Screaming, bleeding, stumbling. Muddly puddles - bog and marshes. Voices. singing. Crooning. He fell, tasting grass and mud, able to tell what had passed here before - a rabbit? He threw up: once, twice, three times. Running again.

And then hands - grabbing him, hoding him. Ripping his hands from his wrists, as well as his feet from his ankles. He screamed something, eyes snapping open. Maes' purple eyes were glowing faintly, staring at him behind the bars. "Always get nightmares on the first night," he murmured, watching Roy nod and slowly wipe sweat from his face. He closed his eyes, listening to Roy shift around in his cage. He could hear him shivering, obviously trying to fight the urge to cry.

"I have ... an idea." Maes said slowly, surprised that he was talking so much to this person. Roy glanced up, ears perking up in curiosity. Maes placed a hand on one of the seperating bars. He gave a sharp tug, and the bar came out with a faint scraping sound. He had been tugging on the bar for a long time, slowly weakening it. Roy's head tilted, crawling forwards. He could easily fit through - they were both too skinny than they would have prefered.

Maes braced himself, kicking a bar in the door of the cage. The bar clattered away, rolling across the floor. Roy, who had just crawled through the gap, stared stupidly. Getting out seemed far too easy. The homunculus smirked, edging through the gap and taking a dangerous, teetering step. Having been confined since his 'birth', Maes had never learnt the dangerous art of walkin. He took a few steps, practicing, glad for his ability to learn quickly.

He stumbled backwards, letting Roy clamber onto his back, arms locking around his neck. Maes trusted his own shaky walk more than Roy's new limbs. He stumbled forwards this time, gripping the other's legs, wrapping them around his waist. He could hear, somewhere in the distance, an alarm howling, shrieking its message. He could feel Roy's face buried against his neck, clutching aat him desperately. Maes crooned something comforting at him, feeling sharp claws digging into his skin where Roy gripped.

He wasn't sure where to go - just ran as best he could. Kicked down doors, heard yells from somewhere behind him and kept on running. On numerous occasions he nearly dropped Roy, but the male's claws were dug too deeply into his skin to let go. He was making terrified mewing sounds, muffled by Maes' hair that he pressed his face again.

For a moment, as he struggled with a door, Maes wondered why he was bothering to help this guy. He didn't know him, and, as he told himself, he didn't care about whatever happened to the chimera. He should be looking out for just himself, leaving Roy where he was and climbing through a window - something he couldn't do with Roy on is back. But, as he felt Roy's racing heart against his back, he knew he couldn't just leave him.

Maes had never felt an urge like this before. He wasn't used to positive emotion, full stop. But now ... now he felt the need to protect Roy. To hold him and cuddle him, to keep him safe from the world that had already done him so much harm and cruelty. It was a new thing for Maes, and so he wasn't going to let Roy go so easily. He needed to cling to the person that made him feel even the slightest bit human.

He kicked another door open, expecting to find more confusing, maze-like corridors. But instead, a blast of cold air and something wet and faintly painful hit him. Maes instantly recoiled back through the door, unsure of what it was. This was his first time ever coming into contact with rain. Once Maes realised and was definately sure that it wouldn't hurt him or Roy, he hurried on, splashing into puddles as he went. He heard Roy whine softly against his ear, and sped up his pace.

As he ran, he saw a house, instantly knowing that no one lived there. The windows were boarded shut, and the lock was rusty from lack of use. He smacked a bottom floor window, pushing back the plants of wood behind it and climbing carefully through. It smelt old and musty, but Maes was in no position to complain. He set Roy down on a saggy old mattress on the floor, heaving a sigh. Turning back to the window, he stated, "Stay there, Kitten."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Roy awoke in a state of fuzzy contentness. He went to move, but frowned, looking down to find strong arms wrapped around him. He turned his head, chin tingling as it came into contact with the itchy green blanket that covered them both. As he caught sight of the ruffled dark hair and sleeping face nestled against his neck, Roy's memory quickly clicked back into place, reminding him of what had happened. Ah, so that explained it.

He looked back down at himself, noting the far too big clothes that clashed horribly - bright yellow trousers and a muddy brown jumper -, and then at the various packets and bottles of food and drink on the dusty floor, reading to be eaten. Light was filtering in through cracks and lines in the planks across the windows, and Roy felt a thrill of emotion. He was free from that confined life that had awaited him.

"Mnn ... awake, are you?" Roy shivered at the warm breath on his neck, and snuggled back, purring. "Yeah," he murmured, closing his eyes. "Thank you." He felt Maes shake his head, "No problem. I couldn't leave you in there." Maes didn't add his reason - it sounded stupid, at least to him it did. He slowly let go of Roy, sitting up and sighing. Roy looked so ... adorable there, spread out across the mattress, with his tail twitching against Maes' hip. "I got some food." He said slowly, lifting his gaze up to Roy's face. "And some more clothes."

Maes reached out, picking up a little multi-coloured ball and bobbing it, listening to the jingling sound it gave off. Roy's paw twitched, lifting as if to bat at it, but then dropping to his side as he changed his mind. Roy looked so lonely ... and so was Maes. But he didn't know how to deal with people, let alone get into relationship and stay together - but who was saying they were going to do that? Maes was the scary type. It would never happen.

Roy had sat up while Maes was pondering, crawling over and sitting on his lap. He rubbed his face against Maes' chest, purring softly. The homunculus blinked curiously, giving Roy's ears a gentle scratch. He delighted in the louder purrs he got, wrapping his arms around him tightly. That urge to cling ... to hold, to love, to cuddle, to adore and protect - it was too strong to resist it now. "I love you, Kitten." He murmured, holding him tightly.

Roy felt thin in his arms, brittle and delicate - like a glass swam or a newborn, and that only increased the urge. He was still purring, face nestled into Maes' chest, the loud rumblings making his body tremble. "Don't worry, Kitten. I'll protect you."


	4. Chapter 4

After another nap and a hurried breakfast of frosted flakes - the strange sweetness had brought tears of emotion to Roy's eyes - they were out of the house. Roy, because they had no other clothes, was forced to go out and find some new ones. Maes led Roy to the clothes shop that he had broken into, pointing out the window he had smashed and accidentally killed the owner with the flying glass shards. All the time that they went, he never let go of Roy's paw.

Roy was quite nervous about going out, which was perfectly understandable for someone who had gone through so much, and instinctively clung tightly to Maes. Those that they encountered all stared, and ended up walking away with a broken foot. After helping Roy through the window, he finally let go of his hand, gesturing around at all of the clothes. "Pick whatever you want." Maes smiled. He wasn't concerned about what they looked like, so long as they fit.

"This would look cute on you." Maes grinned, holding up a pink dress with numerous frills, ribbons and bells. Roy raised an eyebrow, snorting softly. "No thank you." The homunculus made a pained sound, but suggested no other clothes. He got an admonishing slap on the head when he tried to peer into the changing rooms as Roy tried on various items of clothing - the dress Maes had picked out went ignored - and he behaved after that. Though he did throw some 'adorable' remarks at him as he got changed.

They shoved their new clothes into some bags and set off into the street again. The food that Maes had grabbed, though incredibly sugary and full of energy, was not exactly healthy. Nor would it last long, with Roy's new-found sweet tooth. "Maes ..." Roy said slowly, as they climbed through the back window of a fruit and veg store. "I ... remember having a house. I think I know where it is, too." Maes glanced up from the apples he was hurriedly shoving into a small plastic bag. "How would we get in?" Roy paused bfore answering, "Call a lock smith."

They didn't bother to go back to the home they had broken into. Instead, after grabbing more food, Roy led the way to what he hoped was his home. He stared around at the oddly familiar streets, with houses that struck memories lined up on either side of the road. "Just along here." He said slowly, nodding up ahead of himself. Along the way, Maes had been collecting whatever coins he could find so that they could afford a phone call. He had stolen a phone book from a shop, too.

Roy pushed the gate of a house open, stepping up the front door and peering through the window curiously. "Yeah - this one. I can see my gloves." Maes didn't ask what he meant, instead turned silently, wandering back down the street to where he had spotted a phone box. He cleaned off the coins, counting them up quickly before slamming the phone book again the wall, resting the phone on the crook of his neck as he dialed. These things were so complicated.

After a while he came back to Roy, with a rather frightened man in tow. "Fix it." He snapped, shoving him in the direction of the door. The man glanced briefly at Roy, but kept his gaze averted as he worked on the door. Roy blinked curiously at Maes, noting the odd change in personality, but relaxed as Maes gave him a smile. Couldn't spare no pity for the humans. Only way to get what he wanted was to be direct with them, and scare the living crap out of them - something Maes was good at.

The man worked faster than he had ever in his life, and was done in what seemed like mere seconds before running away from those _freaks_. Maes noted the look thrown at them, and remembered the man's face and his name on his little tag on his jacket. He wouldn't live to see his next birthday, that was for sure. Maes wasn't terribly forgiving, especially not now. Roy was his only priority, and he had to protect him. He had grown incredibly attached to him in such a short little time. But he couldn't help it - there was something about him that just drew Maes to him.

Roy must have noticed the homunculus staring at him, and so coughed, stepping through the now-open door. Maes offered him a small smile, following through. It was a nice enough place, albeit a little dusty. The homunculus took an instant liking to it, simply because it was _Roy_. It smelt like him, spoke about his ways and habits, and just felt like Roy. Like he was holding him in his arms.

Speaking of which ... Maes glanced around, spotting his Kitten inspecting inside of one of the cupboards on the wall. With a smile, he wandered over, sliding his arms around Roy from behind. "You okay, Kitten?" He asked softly, smile widening as a loud purr rumbled from the cat, leaning back into Maes' embrace. "Perfect," he murmured in reply, turning his head to nuzzle at the other's bearded chin. He had never felt so content and happy before, because he knew that he was safe, and nothing could get him.

Maes sighed happily, kissing Roy's forehead gently. After a while he pulled away to peer inside each of the cupboards and various other things, grinning slightly. "Well, at least we won't have to go shopping any time soon. What, was you expecting the end of the world or something?" He raised his eyebrows playfully at Roy, and Roy found himself grinning back in answer. Maes makes him happy, and he can't believe he had never found him before. Even if it was a terrible situation that had brought them together.


	5. Chapter 5

The strong arms around him tightened somewhat as he rolled over, no doubt thinking that he was being stolen or something of the like. Roy purred and yawned, snuggling back against the warm chest. "Mm, Maes ... I need to get up. It's my first day." He murmured, listening to the low series of grunts that Maes gave which signalled that he was waking up. A bleary purple eye opened slowly, squinting at Roy for a moment. "First day? Huh?" Roy chuckled and grinned widely at Maes, leaning up to give his nose a gentle lick. "At the military, Maes."

It had taken them a few months to settle down and work theirselves into daily routines and the lives of people around them. In that time, Roy had found out about himself - who he had been and what he had been, which also included his life as a military man. Maes had spoken to the people there on behalf of Roy, and came to an agreement that he would return to work in two month's time. Maes ordered him a specially made uniform as well, and had somehow managed to resist the urge not to dazzle it up.

He was even allowed to stay with Roy for a few days at work, though there was no force in hell or earth that would stop him from coming in to visit his Kitten. Their relationship had improved incredibly, and, despite Maes' violent habits and quick temper, he had proven to be a very caring lover. He wasn't much of a morning person, though, so it took a long time for Roy to get him up.

"Work! Military!" Roy stated clearly, tail moving to curl around Maes' hip. "Today!" Maes stared blankly at him for a few more moments, then sat up slowly and stretched. "Okay, okay, though I don't see why you're so excited." He rolled out of bed with Roy eagerly following him, though Maes wasn't going to let himself be rushed. He needed to wait up first, in his own time. After slowly getting dressed, he turned his attention back to Roy, who was still sat on the bed, the blanket pooled around his waist.

"Come on then." Maes sighed, and Roy leapt out of the bed, grinning as Maes helped him get dressed. It was hard to pull on clothes without thumbs, so helping Roy each morning had grown into a daily routine of theirs. Maes didn't seem to mind, though. He was eager to see Roy in his new uniform, though he didn't let his enthusiasm show. He had heard too many bad things about the military, and he wasn't going to let his Kitten get hurt. If Roy got called to war, then Maes would either flat out say no to the Fuhrer, or kill some people and kidnap Roy. The latter sounded more appealing to him.

He was glad that Roy didn't seem to mind his killing tendencies, because Maes only killed to keep Roy safe. He never wanted his Kitten to be hurt again like he had been, and so Maes had a natural grudge for all things human. None of them were equal to his Kitten and him. And Maes would kill anyone that dared to question his opinions.

"Right. You need to eat something, Roy, or else you'll have no energy." Maes smiled, doubting that much. Roy was far too happy to see old friends that he couldn't remember, though he didn't think Roy would be too happy once he was there for a good few hours.

In fact, the closer that they got to Headquarters, the more nervous Roy became. Maes had to stop and hug him constantly, hold him tight in order to reassure him. As they walked through the corridors, Maes had to keep his arm wrapped firmly around Roy's shoulders to keep him from running away. People stared, though Maes resisted the urge to pause and punch every person he saw. It was hard, but he managed it.

As they reached Roy's office, Maes stopped, unsure of whether Roy was ready for this. Roy obviously was having the same doubts, staring nervously at the door and fidgeting. But, when they entered, there was no one within. Maes frowned, but didn't comment on it. He got Roy seated at his desk, helped him to get comfortable and gave him a kiss. "It's alright, Kitten. Don't look so scared." he murmured, giving Roy's ears a gentle scratch. He hated that expression. He hated it when Roy felt negative emotions altogether. Roy deserved the best.

Maes reached round to pull him into another tight hug, wrapping his arms around Roy tightly. "Don't ever listen to what they think of you, Kitten. Ever." He murmured, listening to Roy's soft purr. Nobody had commented just yet, but Maes would bet a lot that they would sooner or later. He had seen looks of recognition for the both of them, not just fear and amazement. Maes didn't care much for who he had been, only who he was now, but it unnerved him slightly.

"I won't, Maes," Roy promised softly, kissing his cheek gently. He clung to him tightly, listening to the footsteps and noises outside of the office. He could see, just to the side of Maes, people grouping in the doorway to peer in curiously. He supposed he hadn't been like this before he vanished, and, judging from their expressions, Roy hadn't been with a man before, either. Just to taunt the crowds, Maes grinned and pulled Roy into an adoring kiss.


	6. End

It had been just over a year since they had gotten out and established a new life for themselves. Roy had finally settled down into work, though Maes' visits to 'remind' everyone of just who they were dealing with still occured. People still vanished mysteriously without explanation, and Maes still managed to find new people to torment.

The homunculus was a bit of a legend around Central, really. A story to tell children to make them behave. Maes was even a legend to milkmen nationwide, with his 'persuading' tactics and talents that would leave any respectable milkman shaking in his boots and an order for several bottles of expensive milk to be shipped to Maes' home. The only people that Maes got on well with, asides from Roy, was various clothes shop owners. The homunculus adored dressing Roy up, though his lover didn't always seem to enjoy it.

Roy was quite famous as well. Not in the same way as Maes, but famous for the fact that the great Colonel Mustang had returned, totally different. True, he still had a little bit of a mean streak, but he had softened considerably. And he was with Maes Hughes, a man who they had all known had died. He wasn't the Maes that they had known, and nor was this the Roy they had worked for. But it was still them, in some way, shape or form.

Maes had bumped into a supposed old friend the other day, though he had flat out told her that he held no feelings whatsoever for her. She had looked incredibly hurt, but they had agreed that it would be nice to talk. She even congratulated Roy, who looked surprised that Glacier had taken it so well: her husband back from the dead, and sleeping with his old best friend. But that didn't matter. The good thing was that Maes had someone who could tell him things that Roy couldn't.

Not that Roy was jealous. Of course not.


End file.
